Wil­lam­son, Kap­cho­rua Tea post losses, cite tough half year

RICHARD MUNGAI/ Agri­cul­tural af­fil­i­ates Wil­lam­son Tea and Kap­cho­rua Tea waded into the loss ter­ri­tory in the first half of this year amid in­creased pro­duc­tion costs and low tea prices.

Wil­lam­son Tea re­ported a Sh263.11 mil­lion net loss for the six months ended Septem­ber 30, which was a 169.1 per cent drop com­pared to a profit of Sh380.66 mil­lion recorded in a sim­i­lar pe­riod last year.

On the other hand, Kap­cho­rua Tea posted a half year net loss of Sh89.68 mil­lion, from a profit of Sh100.41 mil­lion in 2015.

The com­pa­nies, which share di­rec­tors, said tea prices have re­mained de­pressed due to higher crops yield in tea grow­ing ar­eas dur­ing the pe­riod.

“Un­less there is a read­just­ment on the sup­ply side, de­mand will re­main weak, with buy­ers un­der no pres­sure to pay more for their teas,” the com­pa­nies said in a state­ment l re­leased last Fri­day.